Week Four: Form, Contour Lines, Positive and Negative Space

As we explored positive and negative space we saw lots of BIG progress in everyone's work. Welcome to the new students who jumped in and joined the fun! Everyone loosened up their lines and started sketching larger on the paper as we move into drawing realistically.

Be sure to check out Gustavo's and Marcial's cool drawings in eXpReSsiOn sEsSiOn! Click here


Above: Design by Gustavo

I'll see you all Friday as we continue to explore realism. --Rob

Jose

Welcome to Success Sketchers, Jose!! Your drawing of the egret is a fantastic start! Excellent job of drawing contour lines to show the form of the bird's head and body. The 's' curve of its neck is accurately drawn. The overall proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) are VERY well drawn. Nice work on details such as the beak, eye, and erasing to show the feathers.

Stephanie

Wow!! Stephanie!! Awesome work in drawing contour edges that form the egret! You took time to focus on the areas where the negative space (space around the bird's body) meets the positive space (the body of the bird) to draw contour lines forming its head and body. Great job in drawing the 's' curve of its neck accurately. The plants are a nice touch in your composition. I really like how you made lots of 'study' sketches to find accurate proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) of the egret.

Joe

Nice to have you back in class, Joe! And you got right to work with an accurately drawn egret! The proportions of its head, neck, and body are well drawn. You're developing a nice drawing style that's really starting to show in your work. Great job of adding details such as the beak and eye. The gray tones showing shadows and highlights for the feathers are a nice touch. I really like how you experimented with sketching loose shapes for the form of the bird. Keep it going!

Tasha

Tasha, you made BIG-time progress in improving your skills with the drawing of the egret!! You focused on sketching light guidelines for the shapes that form the bird's head and body. You did a great job of focusing on where the negative space (area around the bird's body) meets the positive space (the bird's body) to make the contour edges around the bird's body. The overall proportions of the egret are well drawn. Excellent job of showing the accurate negative space where the 's' curve of the neck meets the wing. I really like how you made lots of sketches to study the form of the bird. Keep sketching! :-)

Ernie

As you loosened your lines and did several sketches of the egret, the proportions of its head and body became more accurate. This is an awesome development in your work, Ernie!! It's really cool how your drawings have changed from a cartoon style to a more serious realistic style. This really shows in the form of the facial features and the 's' curve of the neck. Keep sketching, man!

Gustavo

This is a fantastic breakthrough in your drawing skills, Gustavo!! You used faster, looser lines to sketch the form of the egret. And you drew BIG on the paper while keeping accurate, natural-looking proportions of its head and body. Excellent how you did several study sketches of the bird. Keep working on sketching quickly and accurately as you look for the contour edges of things that you're drawing.

Billy

Excellent sketching style, Billy!! I really like how you sketched light, accurate lines showing the overall proportions of the the egret. And it's great how you drew large on the paper while keeping accurate shapes for the head, body, and neck. You did an awesome job of showing the negative space (area around the bird's body) and the positive space (the bird's body). Keep working on drawing where positive and negative space meet to form the edges of the thing that you're looking at.

Antonio

Alright!! Antonio!! You did a fantastic job of drawing where the negative space (the dark area around the egret's body) meets the positive space (the egret's body). Great job of showing details such as the beak, eye, and curve of the neck. I really like how you drew BIG on the paper and used loose, expressive lines to show the form of the bird.

Franky

Welcome back to class, Franky! You got back into it with a well drawn egret!! Excellent job of drawing the 's' curve in the bird's neck. It's great how you drew accurate overall proportions of the the head and body. You have a lot of control in drawing contour lines that show the edges of the egret's form. The facial features are very well drawn and it's really cool how you loosened up and drew large on the page.

Marcial

Welcome to Success Sketchers, Marcial!! You got off to a wonderful start with your drawing of the egret! I know that holding your pencil on its side and moving your whole arm while drawing is a challenge, but it will help you to sketch large, accurate shapes of the things you're looking at. You did an excellent job of drawing the form of the egret. The proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) are well drawn. Nice work on the contour lines that show the edges of the bird's form. Keep practicing sketching light guidelines for the shapes of things before drawing darker contour lines.

Our Teachers

Nathaniel


You really nailed this one man!!! Wonderful observation of positive and negative space, and great contour lines showing the form of the egret's head, neck and body. Your eye for realism has opened up in a BIG way with this drawing. Erasing the highlights is a beautiful touch!

And speaking of beautiful...

Sarah


One of the most important aspects of a drawing style is being able to show delicacy. And your style is brilliantly shining in this drawing, Sarah!!! Superb use of positive and negative space to show the contrast of the background and the form of the egret's body, especially those awesome, delicate white highlights. The balance between the blended grays forming the egret's body, darker gray background, black legs, and detailed facial features makes for a REALLY cool composition. Wonderful drawing!

eXpReSsiOn sEsSiOn

Click on drawing to view larger size

Gustavo


Marcial

Week Three: Patterns, Texture, Form, Contour Lines

Progress is steady as we go, Success Sketchers! We continued drawing with lines and shapes as we used contour lines to show the edges forming a dragonfly. Some of you explored form, patterns, and textures while drawing the tiger and lizard. Everyone continues to improve as we move into drawing realistically.


Drawing Challenge: Aztec god Tonatiuh
For those of you who have time, here's a little challenge for you to do this week: Use lines, shapes, and tones (black and grays) to Draw the Face of the Aztec god Tonatiuh. Take time to look for the dark outlines of the shapes. Start by drawing light guidelines for the shapes, and then draw darker outlines to finish. If you have time, lightly draw the different gray tones. Draw from this reference picture: Click here

And... if you're feeling REALLY creative, try this one...

Drawing Challenge: Get Abstract!
For those of you who have time, here's a little challenge for you to do this week: create an abstract drawing. Abstract artwork doesn't show people, places, or things. Use the whole sheet of paper--draw big! Use your imagination! Add any abstract lines, shapes, patterns, and tones (black and gray) to fill your composition.

Examples of artwork by big-time abstract artists to give you ideas: Click here

If you have any drawings you've done in your free time, give the to me and I'll post them up here on the blog.

See you Friday! --Rob

Gustavo

You've made a big step towards drawing realistically, Gustavo! The contour lines showing the edges that form the dragonfly's body and wings are accurate and natural-looking. The overall proportions of its body and wings are well drawn. Great job of adding details for its head, wings, and legs. You also did a great job of drawing accurate proportions of the tiger and including its facial features.

Ernie

You're like a drawing machine, Ernie! You're able to sketch quickly while capturing accurate proportions. Your own unique line work and drawing style is starting to show in your sketches. The overall proportions of the flower and tiger are well drawn. You did a great job of showing the striped patterns and features of the tiger's face. And your dragonfly looks awesome! Great work on showing the details of its body and transparent wings.

Jesus

EXCELLENT progress, Jesus!! The overall proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) are well drawn. Fantastic job of including details such as striped patterns, eyes, and whiskers. I really like how you drew large on the paper while keeping accurate proportions. The nose, ears, and mouth are very well drawn. Keep sketching, man!

Stephanie

Welcome to Success Sketchers, Stephanie!! You've made a GREAT start in drawing with lines and shapes! The overall proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) are well drawn. Nice job of using patterns to show the lizard's skin texture and bony spine. Great job of overlapping the frog's front legs to show depth of space in your drawing. The gray tones showing different values of color are a nice touch. Cool facial expressions. :-)

Antonio

Antonio, your eye for accurate lines and shapes just keeps improving with each drawing you make! The overall proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) of the tiger are very well drawn. Great job of overlapping the shape for his nose and mouth. I'm starting to see more confidence and control of your line work, enabling you to sketch faster and include more details. Keep it going!

Raul

You took on the challenge of drawing the dragonfly and pulled off a REALLY nice sketch, Raul!! Overall, the proportions of the dragonfly's body are accurately drawn. Great work in drawing the details of the legs and head. The proportions of the tiger are also very well drawn. Nice job of including its facial features and the striped pattern.

Dezmen

As you continue to draw, the control of your lines keeps improving, Dezmen! The overall proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) of the dragonfly's body are very well drawn. Excellent job of including details such as its tail, head, and legs. With each sketch your eye for accuracy improves. Keep sketching, Dezmen!

Our Teachers!

Nathaniel


Excellent! Drawing! You nailed the proportions spot-on. The contour lines forming the body and wings are well drawn. Really tight job on the contour edges and realistic looking details and the patterns for the transparent wings.

Sarah


Grrrrrrrrreat job, Sarah!! Excellent job on drawing accurate proportions of the tiger! Your own drawing style is starting to show in your confident, clean line work. You're so ready for the next step: realism!

Challenge Reference: Kandinsky and Miro

Ideas for Your Abstract Drawing
Paintings by the modern artists Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) and Joan Miro (1893-1983) show ideas for your abstract drawing using lines, shapes, and patterns. Click on pictures to enlarge. Scroll down for examples of other Santa Cruz students' abstract drawings.

Kandinsky was a very influential artist in Europe during the early 1900s and 20s. He believed that painting should let artists express their own inner lives in abstract, non-material ways. Just as musicians do not depend on the material world for their music, so artists should not depend on the material world for their art. His expressions with line, shapes, and color became the foundation of abstract art.



Miro's artwork was influenced by poetry in France, in the early 1920s. His goal was to to create pictorial poems using lines, shapes, colors, symbols, and words. His dream-like images were important influences on the art movement called Surrealism. Both Kandinsky and Miro were inspired by drawings by children and primitive art. As revolutionaries, both were determined to break the traditions of realism in art.





Student Abstract Drawings: